Aaron Donald Won Three Defensive Player of the Year Awards From the Interior

Aaron Donald won Defensive Player of the Year three times, was first-team All-Pro in eight of his ten seasons, and made the Pro Bowl in every one of them. He recorded 111 sacks from defensive tackle, the fastest anyone has reached 100 at the position.

Interior defensive line is normally a support job. The tackle occupies two blockers so the edge rusher can run free, and the credit shows up in someone else's column. Donald did the occupying and collected 111 sacks anyway, including 20.5 in 2018, the most ever by a defensive tackle in a season. He was doing it through a guard and a center, from a standing start, with no runway.

Ten seasons, ten Pro Bowls, eight first-team All-Pro selections. There was no ramp and no decline: he was an All-Pro as a second-year player and an All-Pro in his final one. Offenses responded by double-teaming him on well over half his snaps for a decade, and the sack total was compiled against that, not against single blocking.

Super Bowl LVI is the closing argument. Cincinnati had the ball, trailing by three, needing a first down to keep the game alive. Donald beat his man, got to Joe Burrow and forced the incompletion that ended it. He finished with two sacks and three quarterback knockdowns. Great interior linemen make a game easier for their teammates. That night he made them unnecessary.

The counterarguments are about position and volume. John Randle has 137.5 sacks as a primary defensive tackle, more than Donald. Reggie White and Bruce Smith have far more, though from the edge where the job is easier. Joe Greene and Bob Lilly anchored dynasties and won more rings, and both did it in eras where interior pass rush was not tracked as a statistic, which flatters modern comparison.

That last point cuts both ways: Donald played in the era of the quick game, when the ball comes out in under 2.5 seconds and interior pressure is the hardest kind to generate. He generated it anyway, against two blockers, for ten years.

The verdict: Aaron Donald. Nobody has ever been this dominant from the inside.